SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated

So... this is awkward. I picked this up practically for free from The Game Collection after having an urge to play a 3D platformer on Switch lately (With a few notable exceptions, I'm sure we can mostly agree that it's a bit of an underrepresented genre these days).

The surprise, though? It's actually good! I do have the GameCube original as I noticed it was beginning to creep up in price over the last year or so, but I haven't tried it out thus far. Anyone got any memories of this game, or even given the remake a punt?

This game nails the feel of the first three seasons of the show. The voice acting, script and surreal aesthetic complement the (surprising amount of) variety in the gameplay.

Criticisms? Sure - having the additional textures load in as the level begins is weird (though granted it doesn't affect the gameplay), and Patrick is much less fun to control than SpongeBob or Sandy, but I admit it's been a surprise to realise just how tight the controls and overall platforming are in this one.

Not sure how the criticisms stack up compared to the original, but I'd say that the developers of this remake have done an admirable job. Especially for a licensed platformer.

I’ve missed this on the original consoles as well as last year. I think it came out when I was wiring into N64 platformers like Toy Story 2 and Chameleon Twist. All the same, I’m sure I’ll pick it up Rehydrated someday. I’ve seen it for less than £15 on Switch, and I’m encouraged to read that that you were nicely surprised by the tight controls and platforming.

I definitely agree that it’s an underrepresented genre, although that recent Nintendo Direct-style showcase from 3D platformers shows that there’s loads to potentially look forward to. Toree 2 came out a couple of weeks ago as well – the first one was really good for 89p.

A Hat in Time is still on my list, and after this experience I'm thinking of making that my next one. New Super Lucky's Tale is pretty cheap at the moment too.

I only played Toy Story 2 for the first time last year, and I was pleasantly surprised. One of the Nintendolife crew was on about Toree a few weeks ago - the lead character reminds me of Lakitu.

I've almost finished Battle for Bikini Bottom - about another four hubs to check out, but I've been quite good with the objectives and I only need another twenty-three whatsits to unlock the final stage. Still loads of stuff to do though if I feel like it; some of the tasks don't hold your hand at all so it will take some exploration to root everything out. The dream stages also feel somewhat similar to the void levels in Mario Sunshine and there's a notable uptick in challenge.

You can’t go wrong with either of those. I feel that New Super Lucky’s Tale is the more polished and joint-together of the two but A Hat In Time has loads more imagination, and a special feeling that’s rare in 3D platformers from this side of the millennium. Of the two, I’d recommend playing A Hat In Time first – it’s got a lot of fans on this forum, a fair few folk could back me up on that.

Something else that had put me off of getting Rehydrated was that I’d finished Pumpkin Jack, Ty The Tasmanian Tiger HD and Balan Wonderworld in the few months before. If you’re in the mood for something Halloween-ey and around 5 hours long, I’d actually recommend you squeeze Pumpkin Jack in before anything else. Ty HD was just okay, playable but ultimately missable. Balan Wonderworld was utter toilet.

I think I’ll give Spongebob a shot once my backlog clears a bit, hopefully after Christmas. The only Spongebob 3D platformer I’ve played was the Movie tie-in on GameCube, which I quite liked. Between that and your posts about the remake, the omens are good.

The movie game came after but was from the same developer if I recall, so you're probably in for a good time if you liked that.

I saw some footage of Pumpkin Jack and really liked it and it somehow slipped off my radar. I'll have a look into that! I also have the MediEvil remake on my shelf from last Halloween that I still haven't got round to.

Balan Wonderworld is on my 'Morbid curiosity' list but so far I've refrained.